


Boo Boo and Claudia Jean

by mcgarrygirl78



Category: The West Wing
Genre: Drama, Episode Tag, Episode: s04e21 Life on Mars, F/M, Humor
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2007-08-18
Updated: 2007-08-18
Packaged: 2019-05-31 07:31:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,788
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15114677
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mcgarrygirl78/pseuds/mcgarrygirl78
Summary: This was a serious, bottom of the ninth, bases loaded, knuckle cruncher.





	Boo Boo and Claudia Jean

**Author's Note:**

> A copy of this work was once archived at National Library, a part of the [ West Wing Fanfiction Central](https://fanlore.org/wiki/West_Wing_Fanfiction_Central), a West Wing fanfiction archive. More information about the Open Doors approved archive move can be found in the [announcement post](http://archiveofourown.org/admin_posts/8325).

CJ relaxed on the couch with a luke warm compress on her forehead. The lid was closed tonight but by tomorrow morning, it would be blown off. She took deep breaths and tried not to think about tomorrow morning. Her first briefing was at 9am; she would be announcing whether John Hoynes was the current or former Vice-President of the United States. Then the circus would come to town. 

CJ would do her best to calm down the racket, informing the bloodthirsty crowd that a press conference would be held at 3:30 and they could eviscerate the man then. The White House was going to take no questions about the situation. Then she would discuss the President’s upcoming trip to Australia and New Zealand, which she was sure no one would give a damn about. She would throw out the Fed interest rates info, the new CDC budget to fight AIDS, and the First Lady’s trip to Hong Kong. 

The briefing would end with the spring commencement announcements. The President would be at Georgetown University…his youngest child was in the graduating class. Leo would be at Princeton University, Josh at Penn, Toby at Columbia, Sam at UCLA, and Nora at Smith. Even the Press Secretary herself, quite pregnant by mid-June, would be giving the speech at Vassar. She would receive an honorary doctorate and was proud to say her niece Hogan would be attending the college in the fall. 

President Bartlet hoped to keep the summer low key, which was good because she was going out for maternity leave August first. There would be nuke talks with North Korea in late September so they all needed rest and relaxation before that headache. No one expected this curveball. This was a serious, bottom of the ninth, bases loaded, knuckle cruncher. CJ could not help but feel a twinge of guilt since she was the one who sent young Joe Quincy on what she was sure was a wild goose chase that would give the Senior Staff chuckles over beers later in the evening. You had to be hazed into the family…no one got off easy. 

There was a light knock on her door; CJ told the intruder to come in without opening her eyes. 

“Good evening.”

“Oh God Joe Quincy, haven’t we seen enough of each other today?”

“Well I heard a rumor and I came to see if it had any validity.”

“It’s a boldfaced lie, I assure you.”

“Really? Hmm. I thought it might be. I'm sorry to bother you. I guess I’ll take this dulce de leche milkshake to Donna; maybe she will like it.”

“Did you say dulce de leche?”

CJ sat up, taking the compress from her forehead.

“I did.” Joe wiggled the large cup.

“You can come in then.”

Joe did as she said, closing the door. She took the milkshake and he sat down in the chair next to her couch. The small stereo on the bookshelf must have been playing a CD because Joe hadn't heard Dreaming on the radio since junior high. He could not help but bop his head; the song was a favorite of his.

“I never thought of you as a Blondie fan.” CJ said.

“You’ve imagined my musical preferences?”

“No, not really…not once.”

“I didn’t think so.”

CJ was ecstatic as she sipped her milkshake. She replaced her compress, lying back, singing the song in her head and shaking off the last of the day. Joe did the same thing, though the thoughts in his head were of CJ McGarry, not pregnant, pretending to be Debbie Harry in a tee shirt and panties. For a moment, he hated himself for it but the visual was so delightful he just had to let it stay. Why punish it for trying to bring a little joy to what had turned out to be a classic bummer of a day? 

In eight hours, Joe Quincy managed to do with the entire Republican Party could not in five and a half years. He brought the Bartlet Administration to its knees. Josh Lyman most certainly regretted listening to his adorable, peppy senior assistant and hiring him now. If he didn’t have a date for Saturday night he would be sure the girls in the Political Affairs office no longer found him to be a biscuit.

“So, what is this shake for?” she asked.

“Well I heard in order to stay on your good side in your current condition, these milkshakes are your weakness.”

“You trying to stay on my good side?”

“I just knew you had a bad day…thought it would brighten it a bit.”

“Joe, today was a regular day. Tomorrow is going to blow monkey chunks.”

“You could call out sick.”

“Don’t think I haven’t considered it. You have to start coughing early and complaining of a stomachache.”

“How far along are you?” Joe asked.

“Close to six months. My back aches, my ankles are starting to swell, my breasts are well past starting to swell, and…”

“Thank you very much. I think I get it.”

CJ laughed, it was the first time she had since they all sensed something was terribly wrong after lunch. After Joe walked in on Charlie talking about Helen Baldwin, Stu Winkle, and the seven-figure book deal. After that she had to go home to call John Hoynes and then she was part of what definitely must have looked like a lynch mob that confronted him in his office at the OEOB later in the evening. She was not sure she was going to hear the sound of her own laughter for some time to come.

“Boy or girl?”

“We don't know; it’s going to be a surprise. I am hoping for a little girl.”

“Your son is quite the looker.”

“He is the image of his daddy. He has my hair and my eyes but the face is all Leo. He even has Leo’s fingers. How mad will I be if I have a little girl and she looks like Leo too? I need to go home to my baby soon.”

“How do you do it?”

“What?”

CJ swung her feet onto the floor. A good night’s sleep would prepare her for the barrage in the morning. If young Joe Quincy had put two and two together, it was not going to be much of a problem for some overzealous reporter to do the same thing.

“Be a mom and do this job. Not that I don't think you have a right to work, and you are amazing, almost Zen-like in that pressroom, but…I don't know.”

“You were going to say I am missing a lot. I think about it all the time; I love my son very much. However, this will not always be my job. We can't always wait for the most ideal to have kids. Maybe I should have had them earlier but Republicans aren’t the only ones with proper ideas about how things should be done.”

“I didn’t say that.”

“I know. I'm just saying it because sometimes people forget. My children will have an unconventional childhood but it will no doubt be adventurous. Hopefully, it will also deter them from ever seeking a life in politics.”

“Hey baby, I thought…” Leo walked into the office but stopped when he saw the young associate counsel. “Good evening Joe.”

“Good evening Mr. McGarry.”

“Please, call me Leo.”

“Of course, yes sir.” Joe stood. “Well CJ, I will see you tomorrow.”

“Bright and early. As soon as I have this baby we will be sure to go out for the proper introduction.”

“Um, OK.”

“Claudia Jean, are you meaning to tell me that you have not given this young man his White House lap dance yet?” Leo asked. “Some welcoming committee you are.”

Joe looked at him with wide blue eyes.

“Mr. McGarry…”

“Leo, I'm not exactly in the best condition. But I have him penciled in for early September, right after the new guy from the Christian Science Monitor.”

Joe turned the color of cranberry and both of the McGarrys laughed. He did too but wasn’t sure why. The thought of that dance would surely not be the only thing keeping him awake tonight but it would be close to the top of the list.

“Goodnight Joe.” CJ said.

“Goodnight.”

He nodded and left the office. Her husband closed the door behind him.

“We are getting the hell out of here.” He said.

“You don’t need to stay?” she asked.

“What's done is done. We will see what the morning brings us. Did you eat?”

“I had a BLT with mayo. Did you?”

“Yeah.”

“You're lying.”

“Claudia Jean…”

“Leo, you can't…if I have to eat…”

“You are pregnant with my child; you have to eat.”

“You are not the man of steel!” she exclaimed. “You have to eat!”

“OK, OK, calm down. I will eat as soon as we get home.” He put his hand over his heart. “I promise.”

“Swear.”

“I swear. C’mon, let’s go home.”

“Joe Quincy bought me a milkshake.” She grabbed her purse but Leo took her briefcase. “Dulce de leche.”

“He definitely likes you.”

“He was just trying to get on my good side.” She turned off the stereo.

“If the kid develops a crush on you it will make him no different from all the other guys around here.”

“Shut up.”

“I cannot blame them. You are the most beautiful, intelligent, graceful creature.”

CJ told him to shut up again but she smiled as he kissed her softly. She stroked his face.

“I love you Leopold.”

“I love you too. Let’s go.”

They held hands as they left the West Wing and the White House, which was rare indeed. Leo just needed to be close to his wife tonight. As they rode silently in the back of the Lincoln he wondered if Suzanne Hoynes would let her husband hold her tonight. He put his head on CJ’s shoulder. She ran her fingers through his hair, anxious to be home and, hopefully, naked. She would have to make sure he ate first.

“I checked TCM.com before I left my office.”

“Yeah?”

“The Women is coming on tonight. I thought it might be a good way to come down.”

“Fantastic film; bad subject matter. I’ll enjoy it anyway.”

“Good. We’ll get through this Claudia Jean…we will see the other side.”

She nodded but was not at all sure. Still, she would do her best to see what tomorrow brought them. If it was what CJ McGarry thought it would be, this night off with her husband would be the last peaceful one she would see until autumn.

***


End file.
